Its been a long time since my last post... maybe time to start again...
My wife (Gael) and I were feeling a bit stir crazy (like everybody), and started considering a short
road trip from Las Vegas (aka home) to Sequoia/Kings Canyon National park. It turns out that the park lodging there
allows dogs (we have 4, but only two came with us.) As were planning that trip a second “mission”
for the trip developed. I run a railroad
museum, and one of our cars developed a failed axle bearing (in railroad terms
a “hot box”) and I located a set of bearings (from a friend) to fit the car in
the SF Bay area. A set weights near 400
lbs, making shipping an issue, so the Bay Area was added to the trip. My daughter (Steph, in the background in my
profile picture) lives in San Mateo, and works at the SF Zoo, so there was also
an opportunity to see her.
I note that we are “maskers”… we are careful about were we
and how we go… we carry hand sanitizer…. We use it. We avoid crowded places… for this trip we planned to have cheese, bread,
crackers and such and mostly picnic along the way, in place of eating out.
Timing was an issue… I needed the axle bearings, soon, but
we wanted to travel over Tioga Pass in Yosemite, which required a pass. The pass requirement was dropped November 1,
so we planned the trip after that date…
Sunday November 1st we left home just after 9:00,
heading to Montara (north of Half Moon Bay) on the coast side of San Mateo… the
two dogs, Peaches, a Golden Retriever and Nevada a white German Shepard had the
back seat… we stopped regularly to walk the dogs… stopped in Button Willow on
I-5 for lunch… getting to Half Moon Bay about 8:00 pm. 591 miles later… We stopped at the Half Moon
Bay Brewing Co. A brew pub with great
food, an ocean view, and outdoor seating which is dog friendly… Peaches has
been a regular here… Then on to our Airbnb. We were on the lower floor of a house… with
our own balcony with a view of the light house…
We carried a camping mat for the dogs, but they didn’t . want to use it Masks are required, even on
city sidewalks… on walking paths and of
course in all businesses. They are
serious about their masks… We were comfortable with that.
We picked up the wheel bearings in Palo Alto. We met Doug at his place of employment… in a
house (like so many smaller high tech companies in the Bay Area)… They are building
portable Xray equipment… for bomb
identification and such.
Now that we had the bearings, we had time to explore a
bit. We found lunch at a Dim Sum restaurant
off University in Palo Alto… Generally Dim Sum is brought to you on carts and
you choose from the mobile selection… not in this time of the virus… we had to order
from a menu… which worked, and was safe, but the pageant which is Dim Sum was
lost… From there we went north to San
Mateo… I had told my wife about the super market which is Draeger’s… a high end
super market with unbelievable selections of everything… and a cooking school and a restearant and dishes and such. We bought cheese, pate, and goodies for our
picnic… then headed over the hill to Half Moon Bay… Gael prowled the shops on
Main Street (masked) while I walked the dogs (me masked, the dogs won’t
cooperate)… Then we headed up the coast
to our lodging… then south to Sam’s Chowder House to meet my daughter for
dinner. Steph (aka the Daughter) brought
her Golden, Poppy, so had dinner with three dogs. The dogs were well behaved, to the point of
other dinners saying how well behaved they were… They fooled everyone. Again, masks worn until seated… staff in masks… food placed on the end of the table by staff,
for us to pass about. It felt like they
were doing everything they could to make eating out safe for guests and
staff. Sam’s is known for their Lobster
roll sandwiches… Some years ago they
were said to have by best sandwich in America by the Today show… Guess what we
had… They also have soft serve ice cream
with olive oil and salt…
Saying goodbye to the daughter we headed back to the Airbnb…
I walked the dogs… We slept well.
The next morning, we headed north on Hwy 1… to the Zoo, not
visiting the zoo but visiting the daughter, walking the dogs on the bluffs above
Baker Beach in the Golden Gate National Recreation Area… Burning Man started on Baker Beach… then down
to Ft Point (site of the final scene in Vertigo) then on towards the Embarcadero… we stopped
at the Safeway in the Marina District for more picnic supplies… if you ever
take a cruise which stops in San Francisco you will find that the Safeway is
one of the most identifiable landmarks.
By now I was feeling time limited for the drive to Sequoia… so we headed
south east… Lunch was sandwiches from Safeway while driving. We arrived at the Wukasachi Lodge… before
sunset… checked in with the dogs as registered guests… Found our room and settled in. This was election night, and unlike many
National Park lodges, the Wukasachi lodge rooms have TV with CNN… and we watched
while picnicking on crackers, sourdough bread, cheese and pate…
The next morning, He had breakfast burritos from the lodge
and coffee, then we started with a short hike (with paved paths, stairs it is
probably more of a walk than a hike) to the General Sherman Tree… the dogs
stayed in the jeep. Then off to Kings
Canyon and the General Grant Tree. The
visitor’s center was open for the first time since March… We spoke to the rangers, then walked through
the grove to visit the General Grant tree.
From there we drove to Hume Lake (in Sequoia National Forest where dogs
are welcome) where we walked in search of a rumored railroad car casting dump. The dump is said to contain parts dumped
there in 1914… parts which are of interest to me as a railroad historian… we
didn’t find them but must have been close… The dogs enjoyed the walk in search
of the parts.
Then back to Wakaschi lodge and another picnic dinner and more
TV coverage of the election (still undecided)
The next morning I walked the dogs… we saw deer (and
diverted to avoid scaring them) then packed the jeep, picked up coffee and
headed out of the park… we spent time in the Forest of the Giants… Here the NPS
museum was closed, but the park store wasn’t… and here we found that the store manager
was by default interpreting the park.
She was wonderful. Now out of the
park, then north on Hwy 99 then off towards Yosemite via Hwy 41… We had lunch at the Southgate Brewpub in Oakhurst (with dogs) then into the park… only
to find Hwy 41 was closed for blasting and road work… so back out of the park
to Oakhurst to Hwy 49 to Mariposa… and Highway 140, aka the “All Weather
Highway” and into the park at Arch Rock.
By now it was near 5:00 and a hand written sign said they were closing
Tioga Pass at 6:00… we head to Crane Flat and Hwy 120 east… and head over Tioga
Pass at 5:15… It was getting dark, and twilight is when deer move… and I was concerned
about a deer/Jeep interaction… We didn’t
have one… In the park I drive the speed limit or less… so we pulled over to let
other pass, so by the time we reached Lee Vining, we were likely the last car
on the pass, as we passed the CHP road block closing the east side of the pass… By the next day it was reported that snow was
falling in the high country.
We drove to Bishop, checking into the Best Western (dog
friendly) having dinner at Whiskey Creek… a steak house which had surprisingly
decent Tai food… The last time I ate
here I was coming down off the mountains after scattering my parent’s ashes… Back to the motel… more election coverage… To bed…
Next morning… Packing… then off to Schatt’s Bakery for
coffee and pastries and bread for friends and sandwiches for later… Then off to the visit the sign for Hwy 6,
showing the milage to Provenance Town (Cape Cod) then the Railroad Museum at
Laws, then back into town to the book store, then south… Picking up gas at the tribal gas station in
Big Pine…
In Lone Pine we visited the Museum of Western Film History… mostly covering the westerns made nearby in
the Alabama Hills, but also covering Star Wars and Tremors who also filmed here
and in Death Valley. Gael is a cousin
of King Vidor… who directed a film here… and they had a poster, not listing
King but listing his wife… we drove
into the hills on Whitney Portal road to Movie road… then paused to eat our sandwich
from Schatts with a beer or two (one each)
Then back on 395, heading east on Hwy 136 towards Death Valley.
A couple of miles
before the Death Valley boundary, I pulled off the road, and we walked off into
the desert in search of the site of the Joshua tree from the U2 “Joshua Tree”
album. The tree fell many years ago,
but the site is an informal memorial with plaques and gifts left behind… One saying, “you have found what you are
looking for” An Irish flag was stuck in a sage brush near by, apparently blown away. I recovered it, returned it to the memorial
area, placing rocks on it to keep it in place.
Then across Panamint Valley, across Townes Pass, across
Death Valley then through Death Valley Junction through Pahrump and home… 6 days
1,791 miles…
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